Apparatus for feeding continuous manifold forms



April H. T. NICHOLAS 1,997,739

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CONTINUOUS MANIFOLD FORMS Filed Oct. 14, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet l April 16, T, NICHQLAS 1,997,739

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CONTINUOUS MANIFOLD FORMS Fil ed Oct. 14, 1955ZSheets-Sheet 2 WJW 43GEJJM+JW Patented Apr. 16, 1935 PATENT, OFFICEAFPARATUS- FOR FEEDING CONTINUOUS i MANIFOLD FORMS Herbert T. Nicholas,Nor-walk, Ohio, assignor to The Rotary Printing Company, Norwalk, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application October- 14, 1933, Serial No. 693,597

5 Claims.

This invention relates toapparatus for feeding continuous manifold formsthrough a typewriter, and is particularly adapted for use in feedingcontinuous fanfolded forms, wherein a transfer sheet pack is intended tobe used. A pack of such nature is illustrated, described and claimed inan application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No.694,993 filed October 24, 1933' by Clarence M. Hepp. Briefly, the packreferred to includes a plurality of transfer sheets that are connectedtogether so as to admit the forms therebetween and so as to shear thelongitudinal folds, while the forms are being drawn through the machinewith reference to the pack.

The apparatus of the present invention has for one of its objects theprovision of mechanism by means of which the forms may be convenientlypulled through the machine with reference to the pack, and by means ofwhich the pressure exerted on the form is evenly distributed during suchoperation. An additional object is to provide apparatus which can bereadily attached to the carriage of a typewriter.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of atypewriter having apparatus embodying my invention mounted thereon; Fig.2 is a front view on an enlarged scale of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectiontaken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section taken through thetypewriter platen and illustrating the method of moving the forms withreference to the pack, and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the pack; Fig.'1 is a section taken on the line 11 in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a sectionsimilar to that illustrated in Fig. 3 but showing a gripper with formstherein, and in a position illustrated in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a typewriter I0, as having a carriage I I,in which a platen I2 is suitably mounted. The carriage supports a framethat is shown, as having a base member I3, 21 pair of guides I 4 andstruts IS. The guides extend vertically adjacent the center of theplaten and near the forward edges thereof, and provide a trackway for aslide l6 that operates to grip the forms during the pulling operation.The gripper illustrated comprises a lever 20 which is pivotally mountedat 2! on a bracket 22 that extends forwardly from the slide, as is shownin Fig. 3. The outer end of the lever has a push rod 23 pivotallyconnected thereto, as at 24, and the lower edge of such rod terminatesin a ring 25 through which the finger of an operator may be inserted.

The function of the gripper is to pull the forms,

indicated at in Fig. 8, while the transverse strips 3| which form partof a pack 32 are held in stationary position. For purposes ofillustration, the means for holding the pack stationary comprisesfiexib-le strips 32, which extend from one end of the pack and arelooped around the bar 33 that is movable with the typewriter carriage.Normally the weight of the push bar holds the gripper in the positionshown in Fig. 3, but whenever the bar is pushed upwardly to the positionshown in Fig. 8, the lever 20 will bind against the forms that areinserted between it and the backing plate 35, thus effecting anautomatic grip during the upward motion of the bar. The pack 32 hascutting edges, such as celluloid strips 35, for slitting thelongitudinal folds of the forms, and so it is necessary to obtain auniform distribution of pressure during the pulling movement. This isobtained with my apparatus, for the gripper engages the center of theforms and substantially at a single point. The forms thus automaticallycenter themselves with reference to it.

The operationof my invention is, as follows: The operator inserts thetransfer pack into the first set of forms, after such set has been slitmanually along the longitudinal edges. The pack is then threaded throughthe machine and the straps are fastened tothe bar 33. After the form isused, the friction grip on the platen is released and the forms,exclusive of the transfer sheets, are inserted beneath the grippinglever 20, and a finger of the operator is inserted in the ring 25.Thereupon, the operator pushes upwardly until the used set of formspasses the upper ends of the transfer sheets. The pack with the new setof forms is turned backwardly until the top is in position for typing.At such time, the used set is torn off on the customary perforatedlines. Thereafter, the operation is continued until the forms are allused.

I claim:

1. A manifold form feeding device, comprising in combination atypewriter having a carriage and a platen, a guide, means for mountingit upon the carriage, the guide being extended upwardly from the platen,a slide movable along the guide and a gripping fingerpivoted to theslide, said finger having a push bar attached thereto which normallyholds the finger away from the slide but which grips the form and raisesthe slide whenr ever upward pressure is applied to the push bar.

2. A manifold form feeding device, comprising in combination, a guideextending upwardly from a machine through which a form is to be fed, aform gripper operated by an extended arm movable along the guide, saidgripper being normally held in released position, but being adaptedautomatically to engage and hold the form when the arm is pushedupwardly by an operator.

3. A device for feeding manifold forms through a machine that has aframe and a carriage movable with referenee to the frame, comprising aguide, means for attaching the frame to the carriage adjacent themidportion thereof and a form gripper movable along the guide, thegripper including an extended arm attached to a member that is adaptedto engage and clamp the form whenever upward pressure is exerted uponthe arm.

4. A device for feeding manifold forms through a machine that has acarriage associated therewith including a guide, means for mounting theguide adjacent the center of the carriage, a gripper movably mounted onthe guide and includhaving a push bar with a finger engaging portion atthe lower end thereof and being adapted to force the lever into grippingposition and raise the slide whenever pressure is exerted upwardly onthe push bar by an operator.

5. A device for feeding manifold forms through a machine that has acarriage through which the forms are adapted to be fed, comprising aframe that is carried by the carriage, a guide mounted on the frameadjacent the center of the carriage, a slide movable along. the guide, aform gripper pivotally mounted on the slide, and a handle attached tothe gripper, the gripper being normally held out of gripping position,but being adapted to be moved automatically into gripping position andalso raise the slide whenever upward pressure is exerted thereon by afinger of an operator.

HERBERT T. NICHOLAS.

